Bold Words:
Edict of Nantes: Henry IV declared that the Huguenots could live in peace in France and set up their own houses of worship in some cities.
Skepticism: The idea that nothing can ever be known for certain
Essay: is a brief work that expresses a person's thoughts and opinions
intendants: Louis government agents who collected taxes and administrated justice.
War of the Spanish Succession: was when a lot of states came together to prevent the union of the French and Spanish thrones

Key People:
Cardinal Richelieu:Ruler of France, and for several years had been a hard-working leader of the Catholic church in France. He did try sincerely to lead according to moral principles.
Louis XIV: was the most powerful ruler in French history. He and the state were one and the same. He said "letat c est moi" meaning "I am the state" He was only a 4 year old boy when he began his reign.
Jean Baptiste Colbert: He believed in the theory of mercantilism. He wanted it to be able to manufacture everything it needed instead of relying on imports.
Key Events:
- Religious Wars and Power Struggles-
• 1572, St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in Paris caused a 6 week nationwide slaughter of Huguenots. It occurred with Huguenot nobles were attending the marriage of Catherine's Daughter to Henry of Navarre. Henry survived.

Henry of Navarre
• 1589, he inherited the throne from King Louis IX. He became Henry IV, the first king of Bourbon dynasty in France.
• He chose to give up Protestantism and become a Catholic. He declared, "Paris is well worth a mass."
• 1598, He declared that the Huguenots could live in peace in France and set up their own houses of worship in some cities. Called the Edict Of Nantes.
• Henry restored the French monarchy to a strong position and but some people hated him for his religious compromises. 1610, Henry was stabbed to death.

Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu
• Henry's son, Louis XIII reigned and was a weak king but in 1624, he appointed a strong minister who made up for his weakness.
• Cardinal Richelieu became the ruler of France. As Louis XIII's minister, he was able to pursue his ambitions in the political area.
• Richelieu had 2 steps to increase the power of the Bourbon monarchy:
1) he moved against Huguenots and believed that Protestantism served as an excuse for political conspiracies against the Catholic king. He forbade Protestant cities to have walls.
2) He sought to weaken the nobles' power and increased the power of government agents who came from the middle class.
• Hapsburgs ruled Spain, Australia, the Netherlands, and parts of the Holy Roman Empire. To limit their power Richelieu involved France in the Thirty Years' War.

-Writers Turn Toward Skepticism-
• French thinkers were turning into skepticism which they then expressed an attitude of doubt toward churches that claimed to have the only correct set of doctrines.

Montaigne and Descartes
• Montaigne developed a new form of literature, the essay.
• Montaigne pointed out that the new belief would be replaced by some different idea in the future. He believed humans could never have absolute knowledge of what is true.
• René Descartes wrote "meditations on first philosophy" where he examined the skeptical argument that one could never be certain of anything.

-Louis XIV Comes to Power-
• Louis XIV

Louis, The Boy King
• He became king in 1643, the true ruler of France was Richelieu's successor, Cardinal Mazarins-- his greatest triumph came in 1648, with the ending of the 30 years war.
• Mazarin increased taxes and strengthened the central government. 1648- 1653, riots tore France apart. Louis never forgot his fear or his anger at the nobility after their threats to him.
• Nobles' rebellion failed for 3 reasons
1) leaders distrusted one another
2) government used violent repression
3) people of France accepted the oppressive laws of an absolute king

Louis Weakens the Nobles' Authority
• 1661- Mazarin died. Louis weakened the power of the nobles by excluding them from his councils. He increased the power of the intendants.

Economic Growth
• Jean Baptiste Colbert helped Louis maintain economic, political, and cultural brilliance.
• Colbert gave government funds and tax benefits to French companies. He placed a high tariff on goods from other countries. French government wanted people to migrate to France's colony in Canada so the fur trade added to French trade and wealth.
• 1658, Louis canceled the Edict of Nantes, and so the Huguenot artisans and business people fled the country so France lost many skilled workers.

-The Sun King's Grand Style-
• Louis spent a fortune on himself with luxury

Louis Controls the Nobility
• Louis was woken up at 8:30 and 100 best nobles would help him get dressed
• Nobles thought that if the king made a nice gesture to them it would determine if they succeeded or failed
• having nobles at the palace increased royal authority in 2 ways
1) made nobility dependent on Louis
2) giving more power to the intendants
• Versailles was Louis place which was near Paris, its furnishings showed Louis power and wealth

Patronage of the Arts
• Louis danced the title role in the ballet of The Sun King and his favorite writer was Moliere who wrote Tartuffe which mocks religious hypocrisy.
• The new purpose of art was to glorify the king and promote values that supported Louis's absolute rule.

-Louis Fights Disastrous Wars-
• 1660, France had 20 million people

Attempts to Expand France's Boundaries
• 1667, Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands and gained 12 towns. 1672, Louis went for Dutch but they saved their country by opening the dikes and flooding the countryside. War ended in 1678 with the Treaty of Nijmegen. France gained a region called "Franche- Comte"
• 1680s weaker countries could match France's strength. This strategy was meant to achieve a balance of power, in which no single country of group of countries could dominate others.
• 1689, William of Orange became the king of England and joined the League of Augsburg. It equaled France's strength.
• France had been weakened

War of the Spanish Succession
• 1700, Charles II of Spain and gave his throne to Philip of Anjou (Louis XIV grandson) . 2 greatest powers in Europe were now both ruled by the French Bourbons.
• 1701, Many states like Italy, England, Australia etc. joined together to prevent the union of the French and Spanish thrones. War of the Spanish Succession.
• 1714, the Treaty of Utrecht was singed which stated Louis's grandson was allowed to remain king of Spain so long as the thrones of France and Spain were not united.
• Great Britain took Gibraltar and they got asiento, permission to send enslaved Africans to Spain's American colonies, which increased their involvement in trading African slaves.
• France gave Britain the North American territories of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Australian Hapsburgs took the Spanish Netherlands and other Spanish lands in Italy. Prussia and Savoy were recognized as kingdoms.

Louis's Death and Legacy
• 1715, Louis died in bed.
• Louis left France above all other nations with their military, arts and trade. On the negative side, France had a lot of debt.